The Commentariat -- March 29, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times is liveblogging Derek Chavin's murder trial. Video of the trial appears on the front page of the Times (so it's free to nonsubscribers). The Washington Post's liveblog with video is here. The Post also has video in its front page. CNN & MSNBC are covering most of the proceedings live. NBC News has live updates here, along with video. NBC News also has video on its front page.

Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The White House announced on Monday an ambitious plan to expand wind farms along the East Coast and jump-start the country's nascent offshore wind industry, saying it hoped to trigger a massive clean-energy effort in the fight against climate change. The plan would generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade -- enough to power more than 10 million American homes and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. To accomplish that, the Biden administration said, it would speed permitting for projects off the East Coast, invest in research and development, provide low-interest loans to industry and fund changes to U.S. ports. 'We are ready to rock-and-roll,' national climate adviser Gina McCarthy told reporters in a phone call Monday. She framed the effort as being as much about jobs as about clean energy."

James Dickson of the Detroit News: "Three men accused in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not face false report or threat of terrorism charges, a Jackson County judge ruled Monday. Judge Michael Klaeren of 12th District Court in Jackson dismissed the charge against Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico, both of Munith, and declined a request by prosecutors to add it to the charges against Paul Bellar, of Milford.... Klaeren on Monday ordered Bellar, Morrison and Musico to stand trial on three remaining charges, gang membership and providing material support for terrorism, both punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as felony firearm, punishable by up to two years in prison."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post has a new report on CNN's interviews of top Trump administration Covid-19 response officials."... the finger-pointing and portrayals of some episodes prompted critics to say that former Trump administration officials who managed the pandemic response have turned to a new project: managing their legacies.... Some of those officials also have compared notes and aligned their recollections, a dynamic detailed by Politico last week, as they work to rehabilitate their reputations and shape future perspectives on the pandemic."

Isabel Debre & Samy Magdy of the AP: "Salvage teams on Monday set free a colossal container ship that has halted global trade through the Suez Canal, bringing an end to a crisis that for nearly a week had clogged one of the world's most vital maritime arteries. Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since last Tuesday. After hauling the fully laden 220,000-ton vessel over the canal bank, the salvage team was pulling the vessel toward the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south end of the canal, where the ship will undergo technical inspection, canal authorities said." See Victoria's comment in today's thread. Funny.

Ken Moritsugu & Jamey Keaten of the AP: "A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is 'extremely unlikely,' according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered, though that was as expected. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis."

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Biden's Big ... Deal. Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The biggest expansion of the federal government in a generation is underway, a pandemic-inspired shift in resources and responsibilities that will challenge President Biden and the Democrats to demonstrate that they can make government work.... For liberal Democrats, Biden's early initiatives represent the fulfillment of a long-sought goal, which is to marshal the full resources of the federal government to attack big problems, from the threats posed by climate change, income and wealth inequality, the country's aging infrastructure and the cost of higher education. Add to that his intention to tackle immigration and voting rights, and it adds up to the most expansive and ambitious agenda in half a century.... Now, the party's liberal wing is cheering a president whom many of them criticized as too centrist, too moderate and too temperate during the 2020 Democratic nominating contest." Balz credits Sen. Bernie Sanders with shifting the party leftward. MB: Oh lordy, we are all socialists now. Eat your hearts out, Republican Scrooges.

Lindsey Walter Mitty Graham. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "As Democrats push again to ban assault weapons after mass shootings in Boulder, Colo., and Atlanta this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday reiterated his opposition -- and said he has a personal reason for doing so. He needs his own AR-15, he said, in case disaster strikes and he needs to defend his home against a roving 'gang.' 'I own an AR-15,' Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace. 'If there's a natural disaster in South Carolina where the cops can't protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to because I can defend myself.'" MB: Lindsey, who rose to the rank of colonel as an Air force JAG, was apparently not fully satisfied with his prestigious desk job. Instead, he imagines himself as a soldier or fighter pilot strafing the bad guys. ~~~

~~~ MB: Hmm, I think I know what color the "gang" is. Lindsey Jim Crow Graham. Evan Semones of Politico:"Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday accused President Joe Biden of playing the 'race card' by slamming Republican efforts to suppress voting across the country.... Graham went on to disparage Democrats and a package of election and government reforms, known as H.R. 1, that passed the House earlier this month and which seeks to counter Republican efforts to stymie voting, calling the sweeping legislation 'the biggest power grab in the history of our country.' It awaits action in the Senate. 'Every time a Republican does anything, we're a racist. If you're a white conservative, you're a racist. If you're a Black Republican, you're either a prop or Uncle Tom'; Graham said. Democrats 'use the racism card to advance a liberal agenda, and we're tired of it. H.R. 1 is sick, not what they're doing in Georgia.'" MB: You know, Lindsey, the term "playing the race card" implies that racism was not actually a factor but was invoked as a pretense. There's no pretense here. Your team is working overtime to ensure that people of color have minimal access to the vote.

Robert McCartney of the Washington Post: "Opponents of D.C. statehood have at most three arguments that deserve any respect. They involve the Founders' intent, retrocession to Maryland and the 23rd Amendment. But none stands up to scrutiny, as I'll discuss below. It's hard to accept that Republicans and other critics believe that these arcane constitutional claims count for more than respecting the nation's founding rallying cry of 'no taxation without representation.' Instead, as GOP leaders are increasingly willing to admit publicly, they care primarily about preventing the deep-blue District from sending two additional Democrats to the Senate and one to the House. Many of the objections raised at last week's House hearing on statehood were plainly laughable." MB: Oh yeah? Among the arguments McCartney calls "laughable": D.C. residents have the advantage of being able to post yard signs that Congressmembers will see; D.C. doesn't have a landfill; D.C. doesn't have enough car dealerships. Strangely, the great majority of states were admitted to the U.S. without any car dealerships at all. Now, Hawaii & Alaska, those are real states. Virginia and Illinois, for instance, not so much.

Ha Ha. Matt Binder of Mashable: After boasting that it "referred violent content and incitement from Parler's platform over 50 times before January 6th" to law enforcement agencies, right-wing social media platform Parler got so much blowback from its base of "Constitutionalist" and "free speech" users that it had to try to explain the First Amendment to them.

Brenna Smith, et al., of USA Today: "Defendants accused in the Capitol riot Jan. 6 crowdfund their legal fees online, using popular payment processors and an expanding network of fundraising platforms, despite a crackdown by tech companies. The Capitol riot extremists and others are engaging these companies in a game of cat-and-mouse as they spring from one fundraising tool to another, utilizing new sites, usernames and accounts. In one case, a crowdfunding website set up in late 2020 has been adopted by a defendant charged with storming the Capitol, who used it to raise almost $180,000. His was one of eight fundraisers on the site as of last week, and his donations accounted for 84% of the money raised on the platform.... In the wake of the insurrection, the popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it banned fundraising for travel to political events that have a 'risk for violence.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "In interviews broadcast on CNN Sunday night..., Donald J. Trump's pandemic officials confirmed in stark and no uncertain terms what was already an open secret in Washington: The administration's pandemic response was riddled with dysfunction, and the discord, untruths and infighting most likely cost many lives. Dr. Deborah L. Birx, Mr. Trump's coronavirus response coordinator, suggested that hundreds of thousands of Americans may have died needlessly, and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, the testing czar, said the administration had lied to the public about the availability of testing.... Admiral Giroir said that the administration simply did not have as many tests as top officials claimed at the time.... The comments were among a string of bombshells that emerged during a CNN special report that featured the doctors who led the government's coronavirus response in 2020." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "The former and current officials described a federal government [ostensibly run by Donald Trump] in such disarray that hundreds of thousands of people may have needlessly died as a result. Much of the administration's dysfunction played out in the open, but the insider accounts provided additional confirmation of the chaos and underscored the devastating effects the political polarization had on public health measures."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "After weeks of decline followed by a steady plateau, coronavirus cases are rising again in the United States. Deaths are still decreasing, but the country averaged 61,545 cases last week, 11 percent more than the average two weeks earlier. Scientists predicted weeks ago that the number of infections would curve upward again in late March, at least in part because of the rise of variants of the coronavirus across the country. The variant that walloped Britain, called B.1.1.7, has led to a new wave of cases across most of Europe. Some scientists warned that it may lead to a new wave in the United States. The rise in infections is also a result of state leaders pulling back on mitigation measures, and large social interactions, like spring break gatherings in Florida, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration's chief science adviser, said on the CBS program 'Face the Nation' on Sunday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials -- often referred to as 'vaccine passports' -- that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen. The effort has gained momentum amid President Biden's pledge that the nation will start to regain normalcy this summer and with a growing number of companies -- from cruise lines to sports teams -- saying they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors again.... The passports are expected to be free and available through applications for smartphones, which could display a scannable code similar to an airline boarding pass. Americans without smartphone access should be able to print out the passports, developers have said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Michelle Au, a Georgia state senator, in a Washington Post op-ed, describes the scene as the state Senate was debating the voter suppression bill: most Republican senators could not be bothered to even show up to hear the debate, but in a "small, clubby" anteroom off the chamber, GOP senators could be heard laughing & chortling among themselves. MB: May the people have the last laugh. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Egypt. A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats. The New York Times (Monday) is liveblogging the progress of dislodging the cargo ship stuck in the sand of the Suez Canal: "The mammoth cargo ship blocking one of the world's most vital maritime arteries was wrenched from the shoreline and set partially afloat again early Monday, raising hopes that traffic could soon resume in the Suez Canal and limit the economic fallout of the disruption. Salvage teams, working on both land and water for five days and nights, were ultimately assisted by ... the moon and the tides. As water levels swelled overnight, the hours spent digging and excavating millions of tons of earth around the Ever Green paid off as the ship slowly regained buoyancy, according to officials. While shipping officials and the Egyptian authorities cautioned that the complicated operation was still underway, they expressed increasing confidence the ship would soon be completely free. The stern was now some 300 feet from shore, according to the Suez Canal Authority." ~~~

~~~ Slowly, Slowly, She Turns. The New York Times (Sunday) liveblogged the progress of the attempts to move a huge Japanese cargo ship that has been grounded for nearly a week in the Suez Canal and is completely blocking the vital international shipping lane. "Late Saturday, tugboat drivers sounded their horns in celebration of the most visible sign of progress since the ship ran aground late Tuesday. The 220,000-ton ship moved ... just two degrees, or about 100 feet...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Sudarsan Raghavan & Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi ordered preparations to be made for the unloading of the Ever Given cargo carrier that is blocking the Suez Canal, the head of the canal authority said Sunday. Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, told Egyptian television that officials were preparing for the 'third scenario' of unloading containers from the massive ship so it can be refloated, opening up one of the world's busiest waterways. The canal has been blocked since Tuesday, leaving more than 300 ships waiting to pass through. Unloading some of the 18,000 containers from the towering ship would require special equipment, so the president authorized its acquisition even as dredging continued, Rabie said. So far, 27,000 cubic feet of sand have been removed from around the vessel to a depth of 18 meters, or about 59 feet." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

AP: "Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama's Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday. She was at least 99 years old. Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village. She passed away around 4 a.m. local time while being treated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city in the country's west, according to her daughter Marsat Onyango."

The Commentariat -- March 28, 2021

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "After weeks of decline followed by a steady plateau, coronavirus cases are rising again in the United States. Deaths are still decreasing, but the country averaged 61,545 cases last week, 11 percent more than the average two weeks earlier. Scientists predicted weeks ago that the number of infections would curve upward again in late March, at least in part because of the rise of variants of the coronavirus across the country. The variant that walloped Britain, called B.1.1.7, has led to a new wave of cases across most of Europe. Some scientists warned that it may lead to a new wave in the United States. The rise in infections is also a result of state leaders pulling back on mitigation measures, and large social interactions, like spring break gatherings in Florida, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration's chief science adviser, said on the CBS program 'Face the Nation' on Sunday."

Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials -- often referred to as 'vaccine passports' -- that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen. The effort has gained momentum amid President Biden's pledge that the nation will start to regain normalcy this summer and with a growing number of companies -- from cruise lines to sports teams -- saying they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors again.... The passports are expected to be free and available through applications for smartphones, which could display a scannable code similar to an airline boarding pass. Americans without smartphone access should be able to print out the passports, developers have said."

Michelle Au, a Georgia state senator, in a Washington Post op-ed, describes the scene as the state Senate was debating the voter suppression bill: most Republican senators could not be bothered to even show up to hear the debate, but in a "small, clubby" anteroom off the chamber, GOP senators could be heard laughing & chortling among themselves. MB: May the people have the last laugh.

Slowly, Slowly, She Turns. The New York Times is liveblogging the progress of the attempts to move a huge Japanese cargo ship that has been grounded for nearly a week in the Suez Canal and is completely blocking the vital international shipping lane. "Late Saturday, tugboat drivers sounded their horns in celebration of the most visible sign of progress since the ship ran aground late Tuesday. The 220,000-ton ship moved ... just two degrees, or about 100 feet...." ~~~

~~~ Sudarsan Raghavan & Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi ordered preparations to be made for the unloading of the Ever Given cargo carrier that is blocking the Suez Canal, the head of the canal authority said Sunday. Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, told Egyptian television that officials were preparing for the 'third scenario' of unloading containers from the massive ship so it can be refloated, opening up one of the world's busiest waterways. The canal has been blocked since Tuesday, leaving more than 300 ships waiting to pass through. Unloading some of the 18,000 containers from the towering ship would require special equipment, so the president authorized its acquisition even as dredging continued, Rabie said. So far, 27,000 cubic feet of sand have been removed from around the vessel to a depth of 18 meters, or about 59 feet."

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Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: President "Biden should do what he can to help Senate Democrats dilute the filibuster. And he should insist on the passage of the voting rights bill the Senate designed to target the voter suppression efforts enacted in Georgia, just a preview of what's to come in other states. Nine years after first graders were mowed down at Sandy Hook, couldn't he finally make progress on the nation's most shameful issue -- blind worship of the AR-15?... As Fintan O'Toole wrote in The New York Review of Books in a piece titled 'To Hell With Unity,' it must be dawning on Biden that 'the willingness of most congressional Republicans to endorse Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the November election and their unwillingness to convict Trump for his role in the violent putsch of January 6' proves 'there can be no illusions of accord, or even of civilized dispute.'"

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "... public health experts say a new round of research could pave the way for gun policies that avoid partisan gridlock -- and ultimately save thousands of lives. The studies ... are being paid for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is once again funding research into gun violence after a nearly 25-year hiatus imposed by Congress.... Federal money for gun research all but disappeared after Congress in 1996 enacted the so-called Dickey Amendment, which barred the C.D.C. from spending money to 'advocate or promote gun control.'... In an extraordinary turn of events, [Rep. Jay] Dickey [R-Ark.], who died in 2017 [and for whom the amendment is name], befriended the man whose [gun research] work he had cut off, Dr. [Mark] Rosenberg.... In 2019, Dr. Rosenberg and Mr. Dickey's former wife, Betty, a retired former prosecutor and chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, helped persuade Congress to restore the funding; lawmakers appropriated $25 million, split between the C.D.C. and the National Institutes of Health, for firearm injury prevention research. The agencies are now financing nearly two dozen studies, though backers of the research say the money is a pittance compared with the breadth of the problem."

Kate Bennett of CNN: "t has been more than two months since Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president of the United States.... Yet, Harris -- along with her husband, Georgetown Law professor Douglas Emhoff -- is still, ostensibly, living out of suitcases, unable to move into the private residence reserved for the vice president because it's still undergoing renovations. It's unclear why the renovations are taking so long, said one administration official, but it's a situation that has left Harris increasingly and understandably bothered, according to several people who spoke to CNN about her situation.... The second couple continues to live in temporary housing at Blair House, the President's official guest quarters, just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House." MB: Blair House is not exactly a dump.

Jason Hoffman & Jasmine Wright of CNN: "'Now this is a moment of many firsts,' [Doug] Emhoff declared, sitting solo in front of the White House logo, at a virtual Passover celebration at the White House on Thursday. It's a nod not only to his wife's historic role as the first woman, first Black and South Asian vice president. But also, his own, as the first Jewish spouse in the White House, leading its first Passover event live streamed for the masses, days before the actual holiday. 'We are gathered today for the first Passover celebration of the Biden-Harris administration and I'm excited to join you as the first ever second gentleman, married to the first woman to serve as vice president of the United States. And as the first Jewish spouse of a president or a vice president,' Emhoff added.... The Obamas [held] Seders every year they were in the White House. However once they left office, the official White House Seder went by the wayside."

Yes, He's a Lying SOS, But I'd Vote for Him! Kelly Mena of CNN: "The former chief of staff to ... Donald Trump on Saturday pushed back against his former boss' recent attempt to whitewash the history of the January 6 Capitol riot. Mick Mulvaney, who stepped down as Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland after the insurrection, called Trump's comments that his supporters were 'hugging and kissing' police officers and posed 'zero threat,' despite widespread violence, 'manifestly false.'... 'It's not right to say there was no risk, I don't know how you can say that when people were killed,' he added.... Still, Mulvaney said he 'absolutely would' still vote for Trump if he were to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024." MB: I'd like to thank Mulvaney for voicing the moral position endemic to his party: provoking murder, mayhem, inciting terrorism and treason, are of no consequence as long as a person has an "R" after his name.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Dan Keating, et al., of the Washington Post: "The first nationwide look at vaccination across counties reveals vast differences in the rate that people are receiving protection from the coronavirus, with notably lower rates in predominantly Black areas and counties that voted most heavily for ... Donald Trump in 2020." There's an interactive map as well as a search box so you can check your how your county is doing ... unless you live in one of the states that has provided "insufficient data." MB: If I didn't live in one of those "insufficient data" states, I'd use the info to gauge how safe it was to go out & about.

Maeve Reston of CNN: "Dr. Deborah Birx, who served as the White House coronavirus response coordinator under the Trump administration..., [says] in a new CNN documentary that the number of coronavirus deaths could have been 'decreased substantially' if cities and states across the country had aggressively applied the lessons of the first surge toward mitigation last spring, potentially preventing the surges that followed.... Birx ... stat[ed] that the vast majority of America's deaths could have been prevented.... 'I look at it this way. The first time we have an excuse,' Birx says. 'There were about a hundred thousand deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.' A key study from Columbia University released last year underscored the devastating conclusion that earlier intervention could have saved tens of thousands of lives." ~~~

     ~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Birx ... has been criticized for not speaking more frequently and more forcefully against Trump. Last March, Birx praised Trump for being 'so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data' with regards to the outbreak. As The Washington Post's Philip Bump reported, Birx had presented overly optimistic data several times[.]... Birx also sat quietly at a news conference last April when Trump pondered whether people could be injected with disinfectant to 'knock out' the coronavirus."

Beyond the Beltway

Kansas. John Hanna of the AP: "One of the Kansas Legislature's most powerful lawmakers was charged Friday with driving under the influence and a felony offense for trying to elude law enforcement while speeding the wrong way on highways in Topeka. Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop faces five criminal charges, including the felony count, the misdemeanor DUI count and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. The Wichita Republican turned himself in at the local jail Friday evening, and his bond has been set at $5,000.... Suellentrop announced last week that he was stepping away from most of the majority leader's duties until matters surrounding his arrest are resolved."

Michigan. Laina Stebbins of Michigan Advance: "Michigan GOP Chair and University of Michigan Regent Ron Weiser told attendees of a local Republican club on Thursday that the state's top three female Democratic leaders ... Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson ... are 'witches' that Republicans need to defeat in 2022 by 'burning at the stake,' and made a casual reference to assassinating two sitting Republican members of Congress [because they voted to impeach Donald Trump].... Last fall, a group of right-wing, anti-government extremists were foiled in their plan to allegedly kidnap and publicly execute Whitmer, take public officials hostage in the state Capitol and burn the Capitol down. Leading up to that point were months of misogynistic, violent rhetoric directed toward Whitmer and other top Democratic officials from Republicans protesting COVID-19 health restrictions." Weiser said his remarks were "taken out of context." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Because you really have to understand the context in which someone recommends burning public figures alive or otherwise assassinating them. I believe what Weiser said "in context" was, "I disagree with their politics, so they should suffer violent, painful deaths." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Apparently, Weiser discovered that the "out of context" excuse wasn't working for some overly-touchy people, because Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post reports, "On Saturday he issued a more regretful statement. 'In an increasingly vitriolic political environment, we should all do better to treat each other with respect, myself included," etc.

North Carolina. Armed White Vigilantes Want Black Family They Terrorized to Apologize to Them. Eliott McLaughlin of CNN: "... lawyers for the two [armed white men who came with 13 others to the home of a black family] say they ... want an apology from Monica Shepard and her teen son, Dameon, as well as from their family's lawyers, for comments they feel painted their clients as racists. A 'Kumbaya' moment seems unlikely. As the criminal cases against Jordan Kita and Austin Wood unfolded, the Shepards filed a civil lawsuit likening the group to Ku Klux Klan night riders.... The attorneys acknowledge that their clients, Kita and Wood, were armed, that Kita was wearing his law enforcement uniform outside his jurisdiction and the pair were among 15 people who went to the wrong home in the middle of the night wanting to know the whereabouts of a missing girl." The judge who acquitted Kita & Wood did not explain his ruling. MB: Living in the South is terrifying. I'm white, and if this had happened to me, I'd have a hard time getting over it.

Ohio. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Ever since he moved to the United States from China more than a half-century ago, Lee Wong has been told he doesn't look American enough. Despite his 20 years of service in the U.S. Army, he says his patriotism has also been questioned by people who 'can't get over this face.' So when Wong called out the uptick in violence and discrimination against Asian Americans during a meeting of the board of trustees in West Chester Township, Ohio, the board chairman calmly unbuttoned his dress shirt to show those in attendance at the Tuesday meeting what patriotism looked like: red scars across his chest from his military service. 'Here is my proof,' said Wong, 69, who last year ran as a Republican candidate for the state Senate. 'Now, is this patriot enough?' Wong's impassioned speech on Tuesday, captured in a video that's been viewed by millions as of early Saturday, has resonated at a time when hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have become a regular occurrence...." Includes video.

Way Beyond

Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "At a military parade on Saturday, the general who led the overthrow of Myanmar's civilian government last month said the army was determined 'to protect people from all danger.' Before the day was over, the security forces under his command had shot and killed a 5-year-old boy, two 13-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl. A baby girl in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, was struck in the eye with a rubber bullet, although her parents said she was expected to live. The slain children were among dozens of people killed on Saturday as the security forces cracked down on protests across Myanmar, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest days since the Feb. 1 coup led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the Tatmadaw, as the military is known. One news outlet, Myanmar Now, put Saturday's death toll as high as 100." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

Weather Channel: "At least four people are dead and rescues went on through the night as heavy rainfall swamped middle Tennessee and triggered major flooding of homes and roads, including in the south Nashville area.... At least four people are dead and rescues went on through the night as heavy rainfall swamped middle Tennessee and triggered major flooding of homes and roads, including in the south Nashville area."

The Commentariat -- March 27, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "At a military parade on Saturday, the general who led the overthrow of Myanmar's civilian government last month said the army was determined 'to protect people from all danger.' Before the day was over, the security forces under his command had shot and killed a 5-year-old boy, two 13-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl. A baby girl in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, was struck in the eye with a rubber bullet, although her parents said she was expected to live. The slain children were among dozens of people killed on Saturday as the security forces cracked down on protests across Myanmar, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest days since the Feb. 1 coup led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the Tatmadaw, as the military is known. One news outlet, Myanmar Now, put Saturday's death toll as high as 100." The AP's story is here.

James Walker of Newsweek: "Republican Senator Ted Cruz posted a video from the Rio Grande river [link fixed] that runs along the U.S.-Mexico border on social media Thursday night as President Joe Biden spoke about the border crisis at his first press briefing. The Texas Republican said he and other senators had seen 'overrun' detention facilities on their trip to the border, and witnessed migrant mothers and infants sleeping on the floor. He also claimed that traffickers on the Mexican side of the border could be seen taunting U.S. border officials with flashlights." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. See also her commentary in today's thread.

     ~~~ Marie: Newsweek's "Ted Talks" video wouldn't load for me, so I had to go to the YouTubes to find a comparable video. The one I found cuts off the part where Ted, speaking in hushed tones amid the rushes on the U.S. banks of the Rio Grande, finds the baby Moses among the reeds. Cliffhanger: does Ted (a) rescue the infant and raise him as his own so Pharaoh Joe can't deport him, or (b) turn little Moses over to a gruff, gun-toting Border Patrolman?

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AFP: "Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to a virtual summit on the climate crisis, the White House said in a statement on Friday. Heads of state, including Xi Jinping of China and Russia's Vladimir Putin, have been asked to attend the two-day meeting meant to mark Washington's return to the front lines of the fight against human-caused climate change, after Donald Trump disengaged from the process. 'They know they're invited,' Biden said of Xi and Putin. 'But I haven't spoken to either one of them yet.' The start of the summit on 22 April coincides with Earth Day, and it will come ahead of a major UN meeting on the crisis, scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland."

Guardian: "Joe Biden has said the US is looking at what it can do to help free the 400-metre container ship Ever Given from its position blocking the Suez canal as the trade route crisis stretched into a fifth day. We have equipment and capacity that most countries don't have. And we are seeing what help we can be,' the US president said on Friday in Delaware. His comments came after a US official said the navy was prepared to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting approval from local authorities. Meanwhile, as the latest effort to dislodge the ship with tug boats was suspended late on Friday, shipping companies began to reroute cargoes elsewhere to avoid worsening the huge logjam that has built up at either end of the crucial trade artery." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Pardon my simple-mindedness, but reports make it seem the super-barge is stuck in the sand (i.e., essentially run aground) because it is so heavy, what with its being loaded with cargo. So, um, maybe offload the cargo? The equipment needed may be a few of those big ole cranes that move shipping containers.

"Scandal! Horror!" Poppy Noor of the Guardian: "Joe Biden's first press conference has caused some strong reactions [link fixed] from the conservative side of the aisle after he was caught ... reading notes.... 'New photos show cheat sheets used by Biden during his first press conference,' a New York Post headline read last night.... It is customary for politicians to speak using notes.... [For instance,] there was the time [Donald Trump] used cue cards to remind him to listen to shooting survivors."

Ben Leonard of Politico: "President Joe Biden slammed Georgia's new voting restrictions, calling them 21st-century 'Jim Crow' and urging Congress to pass election reform bills. 'This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience,' Biden said in a statement Friday afternoon. 'This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and Constitutional obligation to act.'" The President's full statement is here.

** Still Longing for the Old Plantation. Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Sometimes America’s legacy of white supremacy is hiding in plain sight, literally. When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a hastily passed voter suppression law that many are calling the new, new Jim Crow on Thursday night, surrounded by a half-dozen white men, he did so in front of a painting of a plantation where more than 100 Black people had been enslaved. The fitting symbolism is somehow both shocking and unsurprising. In using the antebellum image of the notorious Callaway Plantation -- in a region where enslaved Black people seeking freedom were hunted with hounds -- in Wilkes County, Ga., as the backdrop for signing a bill that would make it a crime to hand water to a thirsty voter waiting on Georgia's sometimes hours-long voter lines, the GOP governor was sending a clear message about race and human rights in the American South.... At the very moment that Kemp was signing the law with his all-white posse, a Black female Georgia lawmaker -- Rep. Park Cannon -- who'd knocked on the governor's door in the hopes of watching the bill signing was instead dragged away and arrested by state troopers, in a scene that probably had the Deep South's racist sheriffs of yesteryear like Bull Connor or Jim Clark smiling in whatever fiery hellhole they now inhabit." Subscriber-firewalled. MB: I happily spent one of my few Inquirer freebies on this classic. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bunch suggests Kemp knew what he was doing. But I doubt it. People like Kemp are such knee-jerk racists that screaming symbols of racism don't even register with them. That Callaway Plantation picture just seems right. In fact, Bunch lets us know that Brian & his lovely wife Marty especially picked it out for a place of prominence in Brian's office. I'll bet "Gone with the Wind" is Brian Kemp's favorite movie.

Maria Sacchetti & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas fired most members of the department's independent advisory council on Friday, a purge that included several allies of ... Donald Trump and veteran officials who served under both parties. Former Department of Homeland Security officials and advisory board members who worked under Democratic and Republican administrations said they could not remember so many members being dismissed at once.... The council is unpaid and includes leaders from state and local government, law enforcement, the private sector and academia who advise the agency on issues such as immigration, terrorism, crime and national disasters. Members serve one- to three-year terms and meet about four times a year.... DHS officials said Mayorkas would conduct an assessment of the council and reconstitute it with bipartisan members who better reflect the diversity of the United States and the people DHS serves."

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "A fatal cocktail of factors resulted in the deaths of eight Marines and a Navy sailor last summer after their 35-year-old armored vehicle sank off the coast of California, according to the results of a Marine Corps investigation. Insufficient training and maintenance, complacency by Marine officers, and a delayed, chaotic rescue effort contributed to the crisis after the 26-ton amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) sprung numerous leaks. Pumps on the vehicle did not work quickly enough, some Marines aboard did not know how to respond, and there were no safety boats, the investigation said. In the absence of required precautions, a second AAV crew attempted to rescue the first group of Marines. But in heavy surf, their vehicle collided with the first, turning it on its side with an open hatch. A wave swept over the first vehicle, water rushed inside, and it quickly sank.... The disaster, one of several during training in recent years, has prompted hard questions about whether the U.S. military has done enough to prioritize the welfare of its people over training requirements."

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "A group of House Democrats on Friday introduced legislation to prohibit the Postal Service from lengthening mail-delivery windows and require it to adhere to present service expectations. They named the bill the Delivering Envelopes Judiciously On-time Year-round Act, or DEJOY Act."

Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has tapped the commander of the D.C. National Guard to become the next House sergeant-at-arms, selecting the first African American for the post that is responsible for the chamber's safety, as Congress overhauls its security arrangements in the wake of the Capitol riot. Pelosi asked Maj. Gen. William J. Walker to take the job in recent days, according to people familiar with the discussions. The previous holder resigned in the wake of the insurrection on Jan. 6.... If confirmed by a majority of the House, Walker will be tasked with all security and logistical planning of the House chamber, its wing of the Capitol and all associated office buildings." Walker is a registered Republican; Donald Trump appointed him to his current job.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The familiarity of [Donald Trump's claim that the Capitol insurrection was really a harmless love-in with nice visitors hugging & kissing police] ... can blur how dangerous it is. When coupled with other developments on Thursday, it becomes much more difficult to ignore the risk posed by a president rationalizing a violent attack on his political opponents." In Missouri, Republican legislators have blocked a voter-approved referendum because a majority of Republican/rural voters voted against it, thus rendering the total favorable vote not really "the will of the people." Meanwhile, in Georgia, legislators are doing their best to make sure the will of the people is never revealed. Oh, and Tucker Carlson says Hunter Biden causes fascism -- we won't even try to unpack that "logic." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "Fox News host Laura Ingraham had to awkwardly interrupt ... Donald Trump during an interview on The Ingraham Angle, as he launched into a rant about the 2020 election being stolen -- some of the same rhetoric that got Fox News and several of their on-air personalities sued for defamation earlier this year. The $2.7 billion lawsuit by Smartmatic Voting Systems accused Fox News, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, as well as pro-Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, of engaging in a 'disinformation campaign' that defamed their company." Part-way into his rant, Trump began hammering the Supreme Court: "'... the numbers were vastly in favor of us in the presidential election. It was disgraceful that they were able to get away -- the Supreme Court did not have the courage to do what they had to do.' 'Mr. ...yeah, well...' Ingraham began broke in, as Trump began to re-up his election fraud claims and hammer the Court. 'Speaking as a lawyer, we are not going to relitigate the past tonight,' the Fox host ... added."

The Grifter Next Door. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has charged 474 people over the past year with trying to swipe more than $569 million by using criminal fraud schemes connected to the covid-19 pandemic and seized at least $580 million in civil proceedings, officials announced Friday, demonstrating how taxpayer-funded programs meant to ease the economic burden of the crisis have become susceptible to scammers. The department said it has seen fraud attempts connected to several government aid programs. The Criminal Division's Fraud Section, for example, has charged at least 120 people in connection with fraud of the Paycheck Protection Program, a taxpayer-subsidized loan program regulated by the Small Business Administration which has long been of concern because of how funds were disbursed with relatively little oversight. The department said it had also seen immense fraud in connection with the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, and, along with the Secret Service and U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, had seized $580 million of possibly stolen money from that program through administrative procedures." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Looks like people who didn't have much to do because they were stuck at home decided to go into the federal fraud business. Idle hands are the devil's tools. As for me, I stuck to Netflix.

Spencer Hsu & Emily Davies of the Washington Post: "A Proud Boys member and his brother from Oregon have been ordered jailed pending trial on federal charges of conspiring to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, including by allegedly wrenching open a door and impeding police using a pole with a 'Don't Tread on Me' flag. The arrests Tuesday of Jonathanpeter Allen Klein, 21, of Heppner, Ore., and Matthew Leland Klein, 24, of Sherwood, Ore., bring to at least 25 the number of Proud Boys members and associates charged in the rioting that ... led to assaults on nearly 140 police officers. Prosecutors have alleged that four leaders communicated with as many 60 users of an encrypted 'Boots on the Ground' channel to coordinate actions in Washington that day by members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence. On Friday, a federal magistrate released one of the four, Zach Rehl, 35, of Philadelphia, to house arrest from jail pending trial, but stayed his order pending any appeal."

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government.... Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks -- the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations. Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like 'Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction -- and Could Wipe out the Human Race' or 'Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We should get over the idea that these extremists are well-meaning but deluded nutjobs & dimwits who read too many Trump tweets & QAnon posts, and face the fact that they are malevolent perpetrators of anti-American hoaxes whose aim is to bring down the U.S. government. While a percentage of them are violent insurrectionists, most are probably armchair terrorists. And we should bear in mind that these traitors have supporters who hold high government posts, like Sens. Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley & Rand Paul.

Devin Nunes' Mom. Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast: "Two political committees belonging to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) have spent the past two days filing amended FEC reports to correct errors and omissions by their treasurer: his mom. The fundraising committees -- Nunes Victory Fund, and his leadership PAC, NEW PAC -- have also removed Nunes' mother's email address and replaced them with an unspecified 'Treasurer 1' and 'Treasurer 2.'... All but one of the campaign's 2020 FEC reports filed by Nunes' mom contain material errors, according to the [Requests for Additional Information]." MB: The report goes on to cite a lawsuit Nunes brought in which he complained that journalist Ryan Lizza falsely claimed that Mom there had tailed Lizza while Lizza was working on a story about the Nunes family. Don't sue me, Devin, but I'll bet your mom did tail Lizza, in the manner of your hiding in the White House bushes at midnight. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You folks are about one episode away from Season 1 of a madcap NBC sitcom.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "The New York attorney general's office has partnered with Manhattan's district attorney to investigate Stephen K. Bannon for the alleged fundraising scam that prompted his federal pardon in the waning hours of Donald Trump's presidency, according to people familiar with the matter. The move adds prosecutorial firepower to a criminal case widely seen as an attempted end-run around the former president's bid to protect a political ally. Investigators employed by the state attorney general were deputized to work as prosecutors with the team led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D), whose investigation of Bannon began shortly after his pardon was announced in January, these people said." (Also linked yesterday.)

A Florida Man Analyzes Capitol Insurrection. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed Thursday that his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 posed 'zero threat' -- despite the fact that five people died as a result of the violent insurrection, including a Capitol Police officer. 'It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat,' Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 'Look, they went in -- they shouldn't have done it -- some of them went in, and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.' The former president's remarks represent perhaps his most serious distortion yet of the events of Jan. 6.... Prosecutors have arrested more than 300 participants in the Capitol attack, and ... the head of the Capitol Police officers' union has indicated that roughly 140 officers were injured in the insurrection." Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead. MB: Yeah, it was like a kindergarten field trip, wasn't it? (Also linked yesterday.)

Colleen Long of the AP: "Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election. The lawsuit is part of a growing body of legal action filed by the voting company and other targets of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by ... Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump's election loss to Joe Biden." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Axios: "The U.S. broke its previous record for most COVID-19 vaccines administered in a single day, with 3.4 million doses reported on Friday, according to the White House.... States have reported a total of 133.3 million vaccine doses, with about 117 million administered since [President] Biden was inaugurated, according to Bloomberg's vaccine tracker."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "States are racing to vaccinate as many people as possible as the United States' coronavirus infection curve continues its plateau for a third week at more than 55,000 new cases per day, a level that health experts warn could rapidly escalate into a new wave.... At least 31 states have pledged to make vaccines universally available to their adult populations by mid-April, and many more have announced plans to expand eligibility on or before May 1, a goal set by President Biden." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Arkansas. Another Southern State Proudly Leans toward the Dark Ages. Andrew DeMillo of the AP: "Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law legislation allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move opponents have said will give providers broad powers to turn away LGBTQ patients and others. The measure says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate in non-emergency treatments that violate their conscience. The new law won't take effect until late this summer. Opponents of the law, including the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union, have said it will allow doctors to refuse to offer a host of services for LGBTQ patients. The state Chamber of Commerce also opposed the measure, saying it sends the wrong message about the state."

News Lede

CNN: "Two people are dead and at least eight injured after shootings near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Virginia, police said Saturday. Police found at least eight victims at 'the original crime scene' when they arrived shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said at a press briefing. While police were investigating, shots were fired about a block away, resulting in 'an individual being confronted by a uniform Virginia Beach police officer,' Neudigate said. The officer shot and killed the person in what the chief described as a 'police intervention shooting.' A second person was killed in a separate nearby shooting, Neudigate said. He said police do not believe it was related to the first two shootings."